PRACTICE PARTNER
Civil Service
More respectful conversations
at work can spill over into
patient outcomes
DOC TALK
By Stuart Foxman
M
edicine is a high-pressure
and fast-paced occupa-
tion. Sometimes, there’s no
time for niceties. In the ER
or ICU, says Dr. Michael Kaufmann, you
have to issue commands. They can sound
brusque, and that’s expected. But that’s very
different, he says, than routinely barking at
or disrespecting others.
“We can still communicate in a direct
manner and leave the other person feeling
intact,” he says.
Why is that a major issue? To Dr.
Kaufmann, a former family doctor, some-
thing is missing from many professional
interactions in health care. Something that,
if practised more often, could lead to more
productive and cohesive work environments,
and even better outcomes for patients:
Civility.
It may sound like a quaint concept, but
Dr. Kaufmann suggests it’s needed more
than ever. “There’s room for all tempera-
ments in medicine, but we can still all be
civil,” he says. “That’s an age old need, and it
doesn’t just happen. Civility is something we
need to value, learn more about, practise and
encourage.”
If that doesn’t occur, Dr. Kaufmann has
seen the repercussions. He is the Medical
Director Emeritus for the OMA’s Physician
Health Program. There, he worked with doc-
tors who were dealing with behaviours, and
underlying concerns, that were having a det-
rimental personal and professional impact.
The College references civility in its
Practice Guide and in its policy, Physician
Behaviour in the Professional Environ-
ment, and there are certainly references in
both documents to collegiality, and to the
importance of working respectfully and
collaboratively with other members of the
health-care team. Why? To maximize the
quality of patients’ care.
“Civility, in essence, is a professional
expectation,” says Dan Faulkner, Interim
Registrar of the College.
So much of what we call disruptive
ISSUE 2, 2018 DIALOGUE
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